In Search of Strength
by Gingitsune791
Summary: After witnessing the apparent death of his best friend, Naruto decides that being strong for yourself is safer then being strong for others. Slowly being left behind by his family, Naruto turns to the one thing that promises strength: the iron, weightlifting. Settling into a routine and becoming a ninja, how will he react when he learns his friend may still be alive? Naruhina
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to my story guys! I decided I needed to get off my ass and actually try to write something for once. I've been on this site for a number of years, and there are a lot of things that I like, and there are quite a few things I would like to see improved. This is my best shot at writing story I would improve of! First off this is going to be my spin on a neglected Naruto fic. This story will be Naruhina, and finally this will not be a story where Naruto is throwing around earth shattering jutsus. Naruto will be a strong in this fic, just not in a way I see often done.

You guys know the deal, I don't own Naruto, Naruto is owned by Kishimoto

 **Prolouge**

" **RUN! YOU NEED TO RUN! IF YOU STOP SHE WILL DIE!"**

The voice of Kurama, the nine tailed fox, roared through Naruto's mind. Limbs burning, and breathing raggedly, Naruto did his best to stay in pursuit of the ninja that was carrying the sack that held his best friend. If he was just able to keep up, he would be able to distract the unmarked ninja long enough so that help could arrive. Damn, f only his parents had trained him with the same intensity that they had taught his sister!

The day had started ordinarily enough. Six year old Naruto stirred, woken by the sun shining in his room. The house that he shared with his family had many windows, and Naruto's twin sister often left them open in order to get Naruto out of bed relatively on time. Yawning, Naruto got dressed in a simple pair of blue civilian shorts and a orange t-shirt.

"Naruto! Wake up! It's time for breakfast, dattebane!" It was Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki, a beautiful red haired woman that had earned the respect and love of Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze, the fourth hokage.

"Coming Kaa-Chan!" Naruto threw open his bedroom door and bounded down the stairs to the modest dining room where his family was waiting for him.

"Good morning Naruto," Minato said while smiled at his son, before turning back to his paperwork. Naruto's sister, Mito, was the next to give him a greeting. "If Kaa-chan never yelled for you, we didn't think you were ever going to wake up!" Mito was a short girl that had inherited her mother's red hair. In fact, she was a spitting image of Kushina when she was young!

"Leave your brother alone Mito," while reaching down to give her son a kiss on the forehead. "Now eat up you too! Both of you have big days ahead of you!'

"Oh! I almost forgot! I get to spend the day with Hinata-Chan today!" Instantly Naruto was energized, excited to spend the day with his best friend. Usually Naruto would watch as his parents taught Mito her lessons in the ninja arts, but today Naruto got to train with Hinata, and her father was going to teach both of them!

The day Naruto and Mito were born, the village hidden in the leaves was attacked by the kyuubi, the nine tailed fox. Many lives were lost before Minato Namikaze was able to teleport the rampaging bijuu outside the village. Working together with his predecessor, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Minato was able to split the chakra and consciousness of the fox and sealed them into Mito and Naruto, respectively. Sadly, Hiruzen died when the shinigami, the god of death and the afterlife, took his soul as payment for using the _Reaper's death seal,_ a jutsu that took the life of the person who casted it.

Because the chakra of the kyuubi was inherently more chaotic then the soul, Mito had begun training with their parents at a young age. Naruto, who held the much more passive and cooperative mind of the kyuubi, would watch and observe his twin sisters training, excited for his chance to get stronger with his family. However jealous he was of his sister, he understood that she needed help controlling the foxes chara. Without the soul to control it, the foxes chakra raged endlessly within her.

" **Who's making all of that noise! I am trying to sleep!"**

" _Speak of the devil_."

Naruto laughed. Without the malicious intent that it's chakra gave, Kurama, the fox, was much more helpful than everyone would have thought. Sure he was grumpy, but he had grown to like Naruto through the years. Naruto also felt safe with the foxes company, and the two had worked together to pull off some impressive pranks, much to the ire of the innocent bystanders of Konoha. Naruto's pranks had also drawn the curiosity of Hinata Hyuuga, Naruto's best friend. Hinata was a shy violet haired girl that possessed the byakugan, a bloodline ocular jutsu that granted the user 360 degree sight as well as the ability to see the chakra network of others. The poor girl had gotten roped into a the infamous _Uchiha Purple Underwear Scandal_ and had been glued to the boys side ever since. They were basically inseparable!

" **You humans are all so loud. It's a wonder your species is able to get anything done with all the shouting you do."**

Inside the seal on Naruto's navel, Kurama yawned. Unlike the inside of Mito's seal, which was similar to a massive ocean of crimson chakra, the inside of Naruto's seal manifested as a giant sewer that held the consciousness of the kyuubi.

" _You think we are loud? Your snoring kept me up all night!"_

" **Quiet ningen. I want you to pay attention to what the Hyuuga clan head says, I have a strange feeling about today."**

After finishing a light breakfast with his family, Naruto wrapped a red scarf around his neck before leaving his house to jog to the Hyuuga clan compound. The scarf had been a 6th birthday gift from Hinata two months previously and Naruto insisted on wearing it everywhere. Naruto was so enamored with his gift, he begged his mother to teach him how to knit, and he had a purple scarf just like his to give to Hinata on her birthday! Sadly, at least to Naruto, a delegation from Cloud was currently occupying the Hyuuga clan's attention, Hinata wasn't going to have a huge birthday party like Naruto felt she deserved.

The village of Konoha was a bustling place, filled with both ninjas and civilians living their lives. Many gave greetings to Naruto on his way to the upper residential areas of the village, used to seeing him around the village. Because of Minato's diplomatic intelligence and skill, the citizens of Konoha were well aware of the separation between Naruto and his tenant, and treated him like any other child.

"I wonder what Hinata's dad is going to show us today!" Naruto exclaimed as he neared to Hyuuga compound. The guards let him in after saying hello, having grown used to the boy.

"HINATA!" yelled Naruto, sprinting into the compound where he knew where his friend was. "He-he-hello Naruto-kun," stuttered a blushing girl as Naruto gave her a hug in greeting. "Tou-sama is waiting for-for us in the tr-tr-training ground."

"LET'S GO!" Naruto excitedly grabbed Hinata's hand and practically pulled her into the clan's private training center.

"Hello Naruto-kun." spoke Hiashi, patriarch of the hyuuga clan. "Hinata has quite been quite excited to have you train with us today." Hinata glowed red as her father gave her a small jovial smile. The usually stoic clan head always made sure to treat his family with love out of the watchful eyes of the Hyuuga Elders. He hated what his clan was becoming, and he vowed to himself to keep his daughters away from the impossible standards the elders held for them.

"Today I will teach you a skill you both will use for the rest of your lives." Naruto was bouncing as both he and Hinata took a seat in front of Hishi.

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO TEACH US?! A POWERFUL JUTSU?! ARE YOU GOING TO TEACH US HOW TO USE A SWORD?!" Naruto exclaimed before being cut off by Hiashi.

"Patience Naruto. I am going to teach you both the art of meditation, the art of knowing oneself and your surroundings. "

Before Naruto could complain, Hinata put her hand on Naruto's arm to stop him.

"Na-na-Naruto-kun, Fa-fa-father wishes to teach us something im-im-important."

Naruto instantly shut up and quieted down. The children had an interesting dynamic. While Naruto was generally doing his best to get Hinata out of her shell, Hinata was also the only person to be able to calm Naruto and get him to pay attention.

"Thank you Hinata." Hiashi calmy said. "She is right Naruto. Meditation is an extremely important skill to master. When one meditates, they gain an vital knowledge of oneself. When you truly know yourself, anything is possible. Now do as I do."

 _ **_Later That Night_**_

Naruto walked close to the konoha's expansive forests, gazing at the stars as he went. It was here that Naruto felt most at peace. It had taken forever to get permission from his parents to walk here at night, but Naruto was not anything if not determined. He made sure to spend some time in this area as often as he could.

" **You should listen to what White-eyes told you kit. He gave you some good advice, advice that will get you far."**

" _I know Kurama, but meditation is just so boring! I can't seem to calm down enough to clear my mind!"_

" **That would be a side effect of our situation kit. I am very attuned to emotion, and as my jinchuuriki you will sense them as well. It will be very important to learn how to control your emotions kit, because you will feel more than others."**

" _That makes sense I guess. I have always been able to sense-"_

" **NARUTO BE ON YOUR GUARD! I FEEL SOMETHING"**

Naruto instantly stopped daydreaming and jumped into a stance. His years of working with Kurama made him realize that Kurama was dead serious.

" **There kit! At the edge of the trees!"**

Naruto looked where Kurama pointed out. There was a ninja! The ninja was obviously in a hurry, running in the direction away from the village. As Naruto started to gvve chase, he saw that the ninja was carrying an unconscious person on his back!

"HINATA!"

There's the intro one everybody! Any comments, concerns, advice, criticisms? Let me know and leave a review guys! I'm doing not only to get back into writing, but to give you guys a story that you all want to read! Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2: Drowning in the Ocean

Welcome backs guys! I was pleasantly surprised to the reception the first chapter of this fanfic got, so here is the next part! This is the set up chapter so after things will get rolling! Remember that this story is rated M btw. I don't know if I'll ever write any sex scenes, but this story does get rather graphic. Enjoy!

I don't own Naruto. Probably a good thing, I was never good with deadlines.

Chapter 1: Drowning in the Ocean

' _Shit!'_ thought Akio, trying to go run faster, the hyuuga heiress on his back jostling lightly. It wasn't supposed to go like this. He never wanted to take on this damn job in the first place! The only reason he was forced on this doomed mission was because he was the only cloud ninja that was relatively unknown that had the skills necessary to do this!

First he had to pose as a servant to the cloud's diplomat that was stationed in the leaf. Something that he certainly didn't set well with. He and his family grew up as servants to cloud dignitaries, and now that he was finally a jounin, he had to go back to acting like a servant! then he had to worry about infiltrating the hyuuga compound and finding the hyuuga girl, not an easy task when everyone living there could see through fucking wall. finally, when he thought he was finally on the home stretch, a loud child had started to give chase! He wasn't getting paid enough for this bullshit!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HINATA!"

Fine. Akio slowed to a stop, he had his orders: no witnesses. Hell, it's not like he had anything against the kid, but it was either the kid or him. It wasn't a difficult choice to make.

Naruto kept running, chasing after the black-clad ninja. They had gone at least two miles into the forests surrounding the leaf village, nearing a river. The sound of rushing water started to take over the sound in Naruto's ears. This was the farthest he's ever gone, and he was worried no one was going to be able to come to the rescue. It was up to Naruto now. Now if only he had more extensive training then damn meditation!

" **Naruto watch out! That ninja is doing something!"**

Kurama was right. Akio was doing something. He had come to an abrupt stop, next to the river bank, throwing Hinata to the ground besides him. This jolted her awake, apparently from a drugged sleep. "Na-na-naruto-kun, what's going on?"

Naruto stopped running, he was ready fight to save his friend. Naruto took up a basic boxers stance, hands in fists up to his face and spread legs, and as he rushed the ninja, and took a swing. Akio caught Naruto's fist, using his taller height to his advantage. "Sorry kid, nothing personal." He then used to grip to force Naruto's arm down while bringing his knee up, catching Naruto's arm in between.

 _CRACK!_

The sound of breaking bones almost made Hinata throw up. She heard it over and over in Hinata's ears. The sight of Naruto's Arm making a ninety degree angle looked awful. This was her Naruto! Her Best friend! Her closest companion! And he was getting hurt, trying to save her! She screamed. "NARUTO-KUN!"

For Naruto, it was even worse. He almost couldn't believe it, the sight of his arm bending that way was almost surreal. He just couldn't believe it. Then he felt the pain. It was like fire racing up his arm, burning every nerve ending on it's way up. He had never felt anything like it. He fell to his knees, holding his arm. Was this real? How did this even happen? Just earlier in the day he was hanging out his friend! How did everything go to shit so quickly?

Akio wanted to end this quickly. He had never been particularly good at fighting civilians, much less children. Something about facing an opponent that couldn't defend themselves made his heart clench. "Sorry kid, but I have a job to do." He brought his hands up and started making hand signs. He focused his chakra to his eyes, and looked directly into Naruto's. He didn't want to kill the kid, he just wanted to get him off his back.

" _SOLAR FLARE NO-JUTSU!"_

For Hinata, it was like she was stuck in the worst nightmare in the world. She watched pure white light emit from the kidnappers eyes, and Naruto received to full brunt of the attack. Naruto's head snapped back, "AHHHH!" and he hit the ground. Hinata didn't know if he was dead or alive. "NARU- GAH" She was snatched up by the black clothed ninja, who held her up and put a triangular kunai knife to her neck. Her eyes went wide in fear.

"It seems like I wasted too much time on the kid."

There! Entering the clearing! It was Hinata's father! She almost screamed again, she and Naruto were going to be safe!

"Let my daughter go." Hiashi was truly angry. No, he was furious. He was angry when the elders told him he was being too kind to his family. He was angry when the cloud's diplomat forced his to take away the attention from his two daughters and wife. Now? Now he was livid, and he was going to have this ninja's head on a platter, one way or not.

"If you take a step closer, Hyuuga-Hiashi, I will cut your daughter's neck open, and neither of us want that."

Hiashi clenched his arm, veins bulging out of his eyes, enhancing the blood flow to his activated byakugan. "I recognize you, you are part of the of the cloud's envoy. The diplomats servant if I'm correct." Hiashi had to keep him talking, had to keep to distracted. The calvary would be here soon. Speaking of the devil...

"THE POWER OF YOUTH HAS ARRIVED!" Maito Guy, one of the leaf's strongest jounin, crashed through the trees. Guy dressed in a green tracksuit with orange legwarmers and a forest colored vest. Despite his flamboyant attitude and dress, Hiashi knew his odds of saving his daughter had just skyrocketed. After Guy, the fourth hokage walked through the trees.

"We came as fast as we could Hiashi." Minato looked towards his friend. The fourth hokage's eyes immediately jumped to his son. "Naruto! What did you do to my son, you son of a bitch!"

"He had tried to stop me." Akio said. "You should be proud, your son has a lot of constitution. Sadly it wasn't enough." Inwardly Akio was freaking out. The fourth-fucking hokage was here! He could not deal with that! Akio was taken aback. So that's why the Raikage had sent him! He wasn't sent here because he was trusted, he was sent here because he was loyal. This was a suicide mission, and the Raikage knew Akio was willing to die for his village.

"Fine. I guess it can't be helped." Akio took his kunai off of Hinata's neck, who had gone paralyzed from shock and fear. Minato, Guy, and Hiashi may have been some of the finest ninja konoha had ever produced, but no amount of strength and speed could have prepared them for what happened next.

"Glory to Kumo." In one fell swoop Akio brought the knife across his neck, cutting through him like butter. Before anyone could react, his body, still carrying the girl, fell over the river bank into the rushing water below.

"HINATA!"

And there we go! How did you guys like it? Once again, give me any comments, criticisms, or concerns over in the review! Thanks for reading guys!


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